#YesAllWomen: Killing spree sparks furor about misogyny

The hashtag #YesAllWomen has been used 1.5 million times to share women's experiences of sexual harassment on Twitter after a 137-page manifesto revealed the Santa Barbara shooter vowed to seek revenge against women for not finding him attractive.
(USA NOW, USA TODAY)

Students of UCSB and UCLA mourn at a candlelight vigil at UCLA on May 26 for the victims of a killing rampage near UCSB.(Photo: David McNew, Getty Images)

A deadly shooting rampage in California has sparked a conversation about sexual violence, with women sharing stories of harassment, abuse and fear using the hashtag #YesAllWomen on Twitter.

Elliot Rodger, 22, who killed six people before apparently shooting himself in Isla Vista, Calif., Friday night, made misogynous comments in videos and his lengthy manifesto.

In one YouTube video, Rodger sits behind the wheel of a car with tinted windows parked in front of palm trees talking of "loneliness, rejection and unfulfilled desires" and blames women for throwing themselves at "obnoxious brutes" but rejecting him, "the supreme gentleman."

"You girls have never been attracted to me," he said. "I don't know why you girls aren't attracted to me. But I will punish you all for it. It is an injustice, a crime."

Women's comments on Twitter revealed frustration and anger with the acceptance that "boys will be boys," that women are responsible for not being raped rather than men not raping, and the other incidences of campus violence, such as the rapes in Steubenville, Ohio.

"#YesAllWomen because instead of teaching men not to treat women like crap, we teach women not to take it," one woman tweeted.

Another wrote, "Because every time I walk across a parking lot at night, I hold my keys like a weapon #YesAllWomen."

As of Tuesday morning, the hashtag was used more than 1.4 million times, according to social analytics website Topsy.com.

Once again, are mugging victims or male assault victims asked what they were wearing during an attack? This is still a debate? #YesAllWomen

Some online users also tweeted #NotAllMen, a hashtag that previously existed in response to feminist arguments. Women used the hashtag to acknowledge that not all men were misogynists but all women had experienced some kind of sexism in their life.

Not ALL men harass women. But ALL women have, at some point, been harassed by men. Food for thought. #YesAllWomen